So, I’m still wet behind the ears when it comes to “air frying”.
For old hands with this cooking mode, what are your go-to dishes, and what tips can you offer? I assume air frying is not just for bagged frozen wings and fries…
Well, that’s a lot of it. You can do anything frozen that would take well to a fryer – spring rolls, wings, fries, mozzarella sticks, etc. Also things that benefit from browning like meatballs. Tofu (it puffs up) and breaded chicken work well.
It’s just a high-fan convection oven, so anything that would benefit from high heat and circulating air does well.
You can use air fry instead of roast for steak, salmon, etc but keep an eye on time, it goes much faster with the air fry function.
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Hot dogs take mere minutes to grill. Then you sit them in the buns and return for another minute to toast the bun. Toasting bagels. Reheating food. A neighbor uses one to do steak. I got parchment liners for the Breville air fryer trays. I use smaller liners in my mini fryer. Just don’t use them without any food on top - ie to preheat. The convection fan will blow them up onto the heating elements, and they will singe/burn/catch fire.
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I’ve made a few things in my air fryer.
Potato Hotteok (cheese in the middle - panko on the outside). [no picture]
I’ve also made bread wrapped potato fingers.
And Homemade Mozzarella Sticks - they looked a little odd, but they tasted good.
Personally, I’ve found my air fryer a pain to clean, so I don’t use it all that often.
At this point, if I see a recipe where the item is deep fried and it looks good, then I’ll attempt to make it in the air fryer.
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The hot dog idea is brilliant.
How did you learn the parchment can singe and burn?
Things I make most often in my 4 quart air fryer - baked potatoes, teriyaki salmon steaks, roasted vegetables, and fritters. My son has a larger air fryer toaster oven and he uses it mainly for frozen pizza and reheating stuff that I made for him. I like using mine and am looking forward especially to summer when I do not want to use the regular oven because of it heating up the kitchen excessively.
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A spray oil like Pam is a necessity, both for the food you’re cooking and the cleanup afterwards.
Just a thin sheen does the trick.
Learned that here on on of the AF threads awhile ago.
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Might help us if you told us what you generally like to eat/cook/prepare.
As a general rule, air fryers do not do well with “wet” items, such as we batter for things like raw battered chicken for fried chicken or tempura. Other things with wet batter that should not go into an air fryer are muffins
Other things to avoid with air fryers: raw rice or pasta (obvious but sometimes better not to assume), soup, popcorn, and no cheese.
This is helpful. Thanks.
Gosh, I’m ecumenical in my tastes. What do you like cooked in them?
Vegetables can be very tasty.
Asparagus, broccoli and the like
I tried artichokes a couple of times but haven’t unlocked the secret for them yet.
My fav garlic bread… large loaf sliced sourdough (5/8" thick), spread with butter, and then a minced garlic/mayo/paprika spread, topped with parm. Crispy around the edges/bottom, and tender in the middle. Yum!
Also really good for reheating pizza… 20 seconds in the microwave to warm, and then a few minutes in the AF to crisp it up.
Foil covered pan with a medium coat of oil and kosher salt and McCain frozen fries for 7 minutes = better than McDonald"s. Super good on any crispy frozen foods (egg rolls, etc.), but for most things fresh (falafel, or battered/flour’d/cornstarch’d/tempura’d shrimp/fish/chicken/onion rings, etc.) I do a shallow fry in cast iron.
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Brush some BISO chicken thighs in EVOO, then dredge in a mix of rice and wheat flour and cornstarch with salt, pepper, and whatever spices you like, so there’s a minimal flour coating. My air fryer is just a setting on my range, and I cook them for 20 minutes bone side up, flip, then another 20 minutes.
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Frozen battered fish, for fish tacos or fish and chips (frozen
chips also air fried).
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Bacon
Bacon wrapped bananas (this is outrageously good, like “last meal on earth” good, gooey crunchy, salty, sweet, and basically a kaleidoscope of flavor and texture).
Potato chips
Roasted garlic
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By preheating with parchment in place but no food on it to weigh it down. The effect is immediate. It appears they actually tell you not to do it. Oops. But if you only have a tiny bit of food on the parchment, the sides will fly up and it will happen anyway. Rearranging the food or grabbing your trusty kitchen scissors before hand and trimming the paper to size will help.
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I was just poking you–I assumed it happened to you once!
You don’t miss a trick😂!!!
Well, one good confession deserves another: I recently needed to nuke something small, and the closest container was a cane banneton with a linen liner. The liner started smoldering after <30 seconds. It wash showing tiny embers when I pulled it out, and definitely would have kindled the cane. Yikes.
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Who among us has not ventured down a similar path … although I give you props; yours if far more recherché than mine. 
It doesn’t turn brown and sticky? I forget the name of that.
PamMud?
